Roof demonstrator



June 18, 1935. w" HOLT 2005;34-

ROOF DEMONSTRATOR Filed April 50, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 201'! 77653. J72 V87? 2 or:

mam a, 77W

June 18, 1935.

A. w. HOLT 2;:605,034

ROOF DEMONSTRATOR Filed April 50, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 18, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE noon DEMONSTRATOR Annon W. Holt, Long Beach, Calif.

Application April 30, 1931, Serial No. 534,117

' 6 Claims. (01. s

My invention relates to means for demonstratwould appear before being bisected along the, ing quantity requirements of roofing materials dotted lines to produce sections for the. roof of as applied to various types of roof designs, parthe dormer shown in Fig. 10; Figure 9 :shows ticularly roof designs of the hip-and-valley condormer roofing sections after being bisected; Fig- 5 struetion. Those concerned in the art of roofing ure 10 shows a roof design having two gables and -5t find difiiculty in figuring the quantity in square one dormer; Figure 11 shows a roof design having foot area ofroofing material necessary to be apfour gables, and an arrangement to be applied plied on roofs having gables and dormers, and are for demonstration with the set-up-shown in'Figs. liable to mis-calculate the amounts required. It 1 and 2; Figure 12 shows a roof design having 10 a is the purpose of the present inventiontoprovide three gables; Figure 13 shows a design of roof 10- a novel demonstrating device whereby it can be having two gables at right angles and two straight visually understood and demonstrated that so long sided hips; Figure 14; shows a plain four sided hip as the pitch of a roof is the same over its entire roof, and without gables or dormers; Figure, 15 surface all roofs are plain gable roofs so far as shows in plan view an arrangement of a gable 15 the amount of roof-surface is concerned and that front, divided into three sections for the purpose 15 the ratio of roof-surface to its fiat or horizontal of forming the gable front wall and two side wallsplan surface is the same and that the same of a dormer, and with the end pieces extending amount of material is required to; cover one destraight outward as they would be when used as an' sign of roof as the other regardless of the number ordinary gable front, and with the and pieces of gables, providing that the pitch of each gable shown dotted at right angles in which position 20* is of the same angle. The device also demonthey would form the side walls of adormer; Figstrates that adding a dormer increases the roof ure 16 shows a face view of the dormer gable,- surface only to the extent that the dormer roof with the end pieces arranged in similarposition projects over'and duplicates the main roof, and as that in Fig. 15; Figure 17 is an enlar ed' view that the walls of a dormered gable are equal to of One Of the miteled joints of the gable. front 25 those of a plain gab1e shown in Figures 15 and 16, taken on 'linel1,-l|.- The objects of the invention are, first, to 'pron F 16, with the end pi ce shown at vide means within the construction of the device se I y t ,I for demonstrating the area of various types of In 1 the e Wa s 3 represent the outer roof designs; d, means for quick interwalls of a building, members 19 represent. the end 30 change of parts from one design to another; third, Walls Of t e gables, and 0 are hinges securing to provide facilities for readily assembling or disthe gable members to the walls l8 a d; are p assembling the various parts; and fourth, to prod d to permit the members 19 to be turned invide space within the main body portion of the Ward n Out Of the W y W demonstration.

a m d and for compactness of form for 2! is a center-post shown secured in the socket? shipment. I accomplish the above objects by the We and held in Place byv the screw b; arrangements and combinations of the parts dis- Shelf provided- With an Op Closely fitt ng. closed in the accompanying drawings, in which about the center-post and directly'centered'tover Figure 1 is a view in sectional elevation taken on the socket lea for the purpose of maintaining the. 40

line 'I-'I in'Fig. 2 showing, various members set b 2! in V al-position, while at the upp r up readyto receive the roofing sections'of a fourend 017 this P there are e d the ridge bars. gabled roof design; Figure 2 is a plan View of the 32 byv -5 0f the hinges f0!v the P p device with vmembers arranged as in Fig. 1 with of permitting the d -h s to be loweredinto.

the roofing'sections added and indicated by the the dotted position as shown n I When his dotted lines; Figure 3 and Figure 4 are fragmental desired to a le the parts the, screw |8b views showing modifications to be fully described removed and post 21 wlthdrawn'from s ket later; Figure 5 is a sectional detail view taken on and together With the members 22 they are placed V v line 55'in Fig. 3; Figure 6 is a similar view taken in the container compartment' -wd.

00- on fine 3.4 in Fig 2; Figure 7 shows a complete Imbedded in the outer ends-of the ridge-bars 22 layout in plan view'of a full set of roofing seca e the t n u -pins a p v d d t pu p s tions, and'how the material'would be bisected to of retaining the ridge-bars 22 in their horizontal" avoid waste in covering any of the roof designs position and to preve t gable-fronts" 19 rom shown in Figures, 10 to 14 inclusive; Figure 8 collapsing inward due to theabuttingefiectT-of showstwo sections of the roofing material as they the. outer ends. of members; 22 contacting with "device for containing the various members when of a plain hip roof as in g- 14 is to be made. 35

as indicated at |2a in that figure.

the inside faces of IS, and at the peak of each gable front are notches l9 adapted to receive tongue-pins 22a and prevent lateral movement of the members 22. At 24 are shown pins projecting from the sides of the ridge-bars provided to receive and retain the roofing sections marked X in position during demonstration of the gable designs shown in FigureslO to 13 inclusive; and at the inner ends of the ridge-bars 22 pins 25 are provided to receive two roof sections X during the demonstration of a straight sided hip or a plain hip roof design as indicated in Fig. 14; these pins are elevated into the position as shownin Fig. 6 ready to receive the sections X when the members 22 are lowered as indicated at 22' Fig. 1, and in the fragmental view Fig. 6. I

In Fig. 2 all of the gable front members l9 are shown in vertical position, and the ridge-bar members 22 in their horizontal positions ready to receive the roofing sections X, as indicated by the dotted lines; the edges (1, a then abutting and forming the ridge of a roof design, the edges b, b abutting and forming the valleys, and the edges 0 represent the eaves of the roof. In Figs. 3 and 10 to 16 the side-walls are broken away for convenience of illustration.

In Fig. 7 are shown eight sections X of the roofing material which are sufiicient to demonstrate all of the roof designs shown in Figures 1.1 to 14 inclusive. By referring to the drawings, it will be readily seen how the sections X are applied in the different roof designs. For example in Fig. 11 a four gabled roof is demonstrated by raising'th'e four gable-fronts to vertical position andlocking them by the ridge-bars 22 as shown in Fig. l, andthen applying the eight roof sections X'inpairs to the pins 24 as shown in Fig. 2, with their edges a abutting and forming the ridges of the gables, their edgesb abutting and forming the valleys between adjacent gables, and their edges 0 forming the eaves. of the roof. When it is desired to demonstrate a three gabled roof as in Fig. 12, one of theridge-bars 22 is lowered into position as 22'in Fig. 1 and its gable front folded inward. and the'roofing sections X are again applied with two of the sections supported by the pins 24 and slotted openings m, and with the two middle sections inverted and supported by the, pins 25 and openings 3:, thus forming a plain hip-side as indicated at |2a in Fig. 12. To form a plain gable roof, the vertical gablefront in Fig. 12 is lowered, and the roof sections on that side are inverted to form a plain hip side To form the roof design shown in Fig. 13, two of the ridgebars 22 are lowered-together with their gable fronts and the roofing sections are again applied and two plain hip-sides are set up as shown at X, X in Fig. 13. When all four ridge-bars and all four gable fronts are lowered, the plain hip type of roof design may be demonstrated as shown in Fig. 14 by applying all of the sections X in the inverted position and with the pins 25 in the openings x.

To demonstrate a dormer set-up-as shown in Fig. 10 four sections X are applied on the plain hip-side and two on the dormer side as there shown, with two sections Y for the dormer roof and two extra sections Za each of sufficient size to form the main roof at one side of the dormer and to duplicate the extent of the projection of a section Y over the main roof. This demonstrates that adding a dormer increases the total roof surface only to the extent that the dormer roof projects over or duplicates the adjacent main roof. Preferably, in demonstrating a dormer and to show that the walls ofa dormered gable are equal to those of a plain gable, I convert the gable front into the construction as shown in plan view in Fig. 15, made up of three sections I9, |9a and Illa (Fig. 17 with beveled joints having abutting faces 28 and 21; and in the face 21 I providea groove 29 adapted to receive a tonguerib 28 formed upon the face 26; and to maintain the faces in contact with each other I provide a spring indicated at 30, having its ends extending through openings 3| of member I!) and openings 32 and 33 of the sections |9a and clinched at 34; this provides tension between the sections ISa, |9a, for maintaining them in position against the abutting faces when straight outward as shown in Fig. 16 for use as aplain gable-front or at right angles as in Fig. 17 for use as a dormer gable-front; and by having the ends of the spring 3|) thread through the openings 3| and 32, and locating said openings midway of the bevel joints, I provide a suitable means to allow the sections |9a to be turned over and into inverted position as indicated at I9a, |9a in Fig. 10 and thus form thedormers sides, and I9 forming thevdormer gable front; Then by applying the roofing sections marked Y and Za of Fig. 10, adormer demonstration is shown; and to prevent the sections Zaslipping down or dropping inward I provide wire clips Z, Z, as indicated in Fig. 10, their upper ends being turned downward to enter indentures provided in the faceof sections X. The sections Y are provided with openings .2; to engage pins 24 on the associated ridge bar.

In Fig. 3 a modified form of constructionof the ridge-bars is shown'made of two sections with a buggy-stay joint as at 35 which when in the raised position; as shown by the full lines, will prevent the gable front l9 from folding inward; this type of ridge-bar may be constructed of sheet metal formed into trough-shape having the pins 24 formed thereon together with the hinges 36 and 21, the hinge 36 being secured to the center-post 2| while hinge 31 is attached to the gable front l9. This arrangement when'folded inward as indicated by the dotted lines provides for the joint 35 to rest upon the side of post 2| with the link 38 hanging downward and link 39 acting as a prop for the gable front l9 and holding it at an angle equal to the pitch of the roof, whereupon the roofing sections X may be placed for demonstration of a plain hip side and held by any suitable means as pins |9b,.

In Fig. 4 a modified form of ridge-bar is shown that has the advantage of collapsing into comtype of ridge-bar may be made in one piece throughout its full length, with a hinge 40 for attaching to the gable fronts, and with a flat blunt projecting end 4| provided to catch in or be inserted into the grooves 42 which are formed in post 2 near the top and indicated in this figure. In this modification I have omitted the shelf 18c and instead of using a shelf I provide the post socket |8a with suflicient depth to maintain the center post in its vertical position and at the same time form a suitable structure upon which the ends 4| may rest while the ridge-bars are holding the gable fronts at an inclined position as in Fig. 3 for receiving the roofing sections on pins I90.

The various parts of the construction may be made of wood or fibrous material or metal without departing from my invention.

By comparison of Figs. 2 and 7 it is obvious that the roof-surface of the former is the same as the fiat or plane surface of the latter, assuming that the sections in the two figures are of equal size, and by comparison of these figures with the forms shown in Figs. 11 to 14 it is obvious that all these roofs are of the same area, assuming that the roof-pitch is the same. The device, when used as above described to exemplify these various roofs, visually demonstrates that all are in effect plain gable roofs so far as the amount of roof surface is concerned and require the same amount of material regardless of the number of gables, or hips, or valleys, or the direction in which any portion or portions of it may slope. Also, it being well-known that the area of a roof-surface is a certain percentage greater than that of the horizontal plane or flat surface under it and varying according to the pitch of the roof, the device when used as above described demonstrates that all roof surfaces having the same pitch bear the same ratio or percentage of increase to the corresponding horizontal plane (Fig. 7) regardless of the fiat contour of their surfaces due to the absence of gables as in Fig. 14, or of the irregular contour of their surfaces due to their rise and fall over its gables as in Figs. 11 to 13. Therefore, the cost of the flat surface (Fig. 7) in terms of roof-costs being known, the cost of the roof in square foot area of roofing material is easily figured by merely adding a certain percentage corresponding to the pitch or steepness of the roof, and the necessity of calculating the areas of roofs having hips and valleys is eliminated. The device thus provides means to quickly and easily demonstrate that so long as the pitch is the same all these roofs bear the same ratio to the horizontal plane under the roof and that the same amount of material is required for one design of roof as the other regardless of the direction in which one or more of its surfaces may slope, or of the number of its hips and valleys, or of the number of its gables having a pitch of the same angle.

What I claim is:

1. The combination in a roof demonstrating device of a body construction consisting of four side walls, a central post supported within said body, radial arms hinged at their inner ends to said post, pins on each arm intermediate its length and near its inner end, and roof sections each having a pair of openings so located that one of said openings will engage an intermediate pin when the section is assembled on a raised arm and the other of said openings will engage an inner pin when the section is assembled on the arm in its lowered position.

2. The combination in a roof-surface demonstrating device of a body having side walls representing the exterior walls of a building, gable members each comprising a central section and end wings pivoted thereto and having inclined edges of a suitable pitch to represent the front wall of a building gable, a center-post supported within said body, radial arms hinged at their inner ends to said center-post and constructed at their outer ends to interlock with said gable sections, a set of roof members forming a dormer roof and the adjacent portions of a main roof, and means to hold said roof members in place.

3. The combination in a roof-surface demon strating device of a body portion consisting of side walls and cross members, having means for securing a center supporting member in vertical position, a center supporting post having arms adapted to be extended radially therefrom, equilateral triangular shaped members hinged to said side walls, means between said members and arms to support the former in vertical position when said arms are extended radially, and a set of roof members applicable to the members and arms.

4. In a roof-surface demonstrator, a wall, a gable member composed of a central section and end wings, and connections between the wings and central section constructed to hold the wings in extended position with relation to said section to form gable extensions and also in angular position with relation to said section to form dormer sides.

5. In a roof-surface demonstrator, a wall, a gable member composed of a central section and end wings, and resilient connections between the wings and central section whereby the wings in extended position with relation to said section to form gable extensions and in inverted position with relation to said section to form dormer sides.

6. In a roof-surface demonstrator, a Wall, a gable member composed of a central section and end wings having beveled faces formed with tongue and groove joints, and resilient pivotal connections between the wings and central section constructed to hold the wings in extended position with relation to said section to form gableends and in inverted angular position with relation to said section to form dormer sides.

ANNON W. HOLT. 

